Display rack



March 31, 1953 A. w. REED 2,633,249

DISPLAY RACK Filed Oct. 5, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET l Arthur W. Reed INVENTOR.

March 31, 1953 w, E D 2,633,249

' DISPLAY RACK Filed Oct. 5, 1948 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Fig.4.

Arthur W. Reed INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 31, 1953 mm STATE s PATENT oF F1ci- "DISPLAY BACK 7 t I Arthur w Reed, Little Rock, Ark. Application October 5, 1948, Serial No. 52,957

further identifying the manufacturer of the bottles and their contents.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel display rack. of the character described which may be readily fabricated of light weight'metallic materials (and which together with its foldability will permit one to easily transport the rack with a minimum of effort to any desired site.

' A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel display rack of the character described including a frame upon which is pivotally retained a plurality of racks or trays of varying length which are always inclined downwardly when the rack is in open position so that the cartons containing the beverage bottles will be. retained on the racks or trays and urged to Y mm; (01. 211-120) the forward or display position of the trays,

These, together with various ancillary objects and features of the invention which will later become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the device, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of exampleonly in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device of the instant invention in open or operative position;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through the rack illustrating the folded position of the same;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the rack in open position;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantially in the plane of section line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a detail of construction taken substantially in the plane of section line 5--5 of Figure 3.

Specific reference is now made to the drawings.

Inthe several views in the accompanying draw.- ings and in the following specification, reference characters indicate corresponding elements throughout,

Indicated generally at It is a frame consisting of a pair of spaced longitudinally extending rear uprights I2 and I4 which are interconnected by a plurality of longitudinally spaced rods I6.. The bottom ends of the uprights I2 and I4 are furtherinterconnected with a plate I8 for imparting rigidity to the frame. The upper ends of the uprights I2 and I4 are preferably flattened and apertured to receive a transversely extending pivot rod 20.

The frame is further provided with a pair of I longitudinally extending, spaced downwardly and outwardly inclined front standards 22 and 24 which are preferably arcuated as at 26 at their top ends and apertured to receive the pivot rod 20. Thus it will be seen that the front standards 22 and 24 are pivotally connected at their top ends to the rear uprights I2 and Id. At their bottom ends, the uprights 22 and .24 are interconnected by means of a plate member :28 for lending rigidity to the frame. Interconnecting the standards 22 and 24 are a pluralityof longitudinally spaced rods 30 which, as shown clearly in Figure 1, are staggered relative to the rods I6 interconnecting the rear uprights. I2 .and'I4. interconnecting each of the front standards with the rear uprights is a conventional hinge brace 32 which consists of a bar 34 pivoteddto one of the front standards as at .36 and a second bar 38 pivoted to one'of the rear uprights as at 40. The free end of the bar 38 is pivoted as at '42 intermediate the ends of the bar 34, the free end of the bar 34 being provided with a lateral lug 44 which is engageably received inyaslot 45 providedin the bar '38, forlocking the bar' 34 upon the bar 38 and retaining the frame I0 ina fixed open position.

Pivotally secured to the top end of the frame II) is a bracket 48 for slidably and removably retaining a display card on the frame. The bracket 48 consists essentially of a pair of spaced parallel channel side members 50 and 52 interconnected at their bottom ends by means of a transversely extending channel member 54. Secured to the outer face of the channel member 54 is a transversely extending bar 56 having apertured cars 58 at both ends thereof for engageably receiving the pivot rod 20. Thus, the bracket 48 is pivotal or foldable upon the frame as shown clearly in Figure 2. Due to a somewhat tight frictional engagement of the cars 58 between the 3 heads of pivot pins 20 and the uprights l2 and M the sign holder will be conveniently maintained in its vertical .position when the frame is in use.

To retain cartons 60 having capped bottles 62 therein on the frame ID in proper display position, a plurality of racks or trays 64 are provided which are constructed in a novel manner and slidably and pivotally secured to the rods. interconnecting the rear uprights l2 and M as will be described hereinafter. Each of the racks or trays 64 is preferably fabricated of a continuous wire forming a substantially rectangular container configurated as shown in the -drawings. The side members of the'racks or trays include elongated sleeve members 66 and 68 which engageably receive the rods 16; The front ends of the sleeve members 66 and 68 are interconnected by means of a transversely extending wire 10 and this wire 70 together with the arcuated wires 72 therebeneath, form a forward wall of the tray which the front side of .the container 60 may abut. A similar transversely extending rod 16 interconnects the rear ends of the sleeve members 66 and 68 and this, rod together with the arcuated wire portions 76 therebeneath, forms a rear wall of the tray 64. The base of the tray consists essentially of a plurality of elongated wires 18 interconnecting the arcuate wires 12 and 1,4. As will beseen from the drawings, because the rods ,30 are staggeredrelative to the rodslB, when the frame I0 is in an open 1 position of use. the elongated wire I8 forming the base member of each tray or rack 64 rests at its forward end upon the rod inclining each i of the trays 64 downwardly. This inclination is important for properly displaying the tops of the bottles and the labels thereon.

As shown clearly in Figure 1, the trays or racks 64 vary in length progressively from the top of the frame [0 to the bottom thereof. T-o

fold the frame I0 into a compact form when the latter is to be storedaway, the following procedure is employed. The topmost tray is pivoted upwardly and allowed to slide on the topmost rod l6 and to be retained thereon at its 'forwardmos't position. Thereafter, the tray immediately beneath the topmost tray is pivoted upwardly and juxtaposed upon the topmost tray. The third tray is then pivoted upwardly and slid upon the third rod IS in exactly the same manner as that described for the topmost tray. And finally, the bottommost tray is pivoted upwardly and placed in juxtaposition to the third tray, the bottom portions of the two uppermost trays serving as stop and retaining means for the top portions of the two lower trays a shown clearly in Figure 2.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention. what is claimed as new is:

A collapsible display rack comprising a frame including a pair of front uprights and a pair of rear uprights pivoted together at their upper ends, a hinged brace interconnecting and spacing the lower ends of said front and rear uprights from one another, a first set of longitudinally spaced, horizontally disposed rods interconnecting and spacing said front uprights from one another and a second set of similarly spaced and disposed rods connecting said rear uprights to each other, carton retaining trays carried by said second set of rods and havin their forward ends resting on said first set of rods, each of said trays including sides and a bottom, the sides of each tray comprising elongatedloops slidingly and pivotally embracing said second set of rods, the bottoms of said trays being of less width than the distance between the sides of said trays so that the trays may be nested within one another when the frame is collapsed, the length of said trays decreasing progressively from the lower to the upper end of the frame, the distance between rods of said second set of rods being such that upon collapsing of the frame, the topmost tray nests within the next adjacent tray and the next to the bottom tray nests with the bottom tray while the I forward end of the bottom tray abuts the rear REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 676,127 Fox June 11, 1901 738,301 Dowd Sept. 8, 1903 1,664,130 Rae Mar. 27, 1928 1,686,954 Brunhofi Oct. 9, 1928 2,119,442 Robinson May 31, 1938 2,160,102 Hull May 30, 1939 2,186,883 Robinson Jan. 9, 1940 2,309,435 Bitney Jan. 26, 1943 

